A Game Of Shadows: The Story Of Sherlock Holmes

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Moriarty provokes Holmes, saying “Rest assured, if you attempt to bring destruction down upon me, I shall do the same to you.” (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows).
Game theory, also known as “The theory of games of strategy,” has many applications: economic, mathematic, political, and psychological. Game theory can also be implicated when discussing the relationships between criminals and detectives. Sherlock Holmes, a character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is famous for his logical deductive reasoning in order to solve every case. However, in the case involving Professor Moriarty, it is a chess match between peers that drives the story to completion. Sherlock Holmes’s methods of detective work enthralls readers, while his logic and intuition play a part in solving every mystery presented to him; even when matched with an insidious mastermind like James Moriarty. …show more content…

Although game theory does not represent every detective-criminal case, due to the fact that most detectives are not equally matched with the criminal they are tracking, Holmes has found his match in Moriarty, his perfect foe. The dynamic between the two characters in the movie resembles that of a cat and a mouse; however, the cat-mouse role is interchangeable. Where one is able to take two massive steps forward, the other’s premeditated step sends the leader back five. A good example of this occurs after Holmes speaks with Ravache about a bomb that Ravache had planted. What Holmes believed to be the location of the hidden device, under a prop in an opera production, Moriarty had already taken into consideration that Holmes would be tracking the bomb and instead planted it within a cake headed to a peace meeting. In this instance, where Holmes believed that he was ahead of the professor, he actually appeared to be leagues behind. This is where the “game theory” comes into

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